Another Survival Mode

Last night was another “survival mode.” On Fridays, my group “Fundamentals” joins training with the advanced group. That’s when we white belts get mixed in with blue, purple, brown, and black belts.

We started the session with the usual warm-up – running and, among other things, 50 burpees. After that, we drilled takedowns with a partner and worked on finishing with a choke after completing the takedown. Then came six rounds of rolling. The coach always insists that lower belts mix with higher belts.

I rolled five rounds of four minutes each and took one round off. Between rounds, we had two minutes of “rest” – one minute of running with sets of 10 push-ups and 10 squats thrown in, and one minute to fix the gi and drink some water.

I sparred with several blue belts, one black belt over 100 kg, and a 15-year-old gray belt. The kid was attacking me from all angles like a fly, but I managed to hold my ground and not get submitted, mostly relying on strength.

For the cool-down, we did more running, followed by sets of 10 push-ups and 10 squats. At least there were no forward and backward rolls this time.

All in all, I survived! By the end of training, the best thing for me would have been to dive into a barrel full of ibuprofen.

And at the end, a couple of quotes from "Jiu Jitsu University" by Saulo Ribeiro, which I’m currently reading:

* “If you think, you are late. If you are late, you use strength. If you use strength, you tire. And if you tire, you die.”
* “When you react, you don’t give your mind the time to get filled with emotions. You are devoid of anger, fear, and frustration; you are simply moving.”